ASA Early Career Profiles: Bachelor’s-Level Graduates in Statistics and Data Science

1 August 201718 viewsNo Comment

Organized by the ASA Section on Statistical Education

What can you do with an undergraduate degree in statistics or data science? Take a look at what these individuals are doing. They are employed at the early stages of their careers after graduating from a bachelor’s degree program that included training in statistics or data science. Check out other profiles.

Sergio E. Betancourt

Background

HBSc with Distinction from the University of Toronto, St. George—Specialization in statistical sciences, major in mathematics, and minor in economics

Interests and extracurriculars include being a data strategist with Toronto’s Hispanotech Professional Association (March 2017 – Present), a dance performer with Steps Dance Studio’s Performance Team (January 2016 – Present), and a steering committee member of Citilife Canada (November 2015 – Present)

Twelve-month internship at Ericsson Canada as a pricing and bid and proposal coordinator (August 2013 – August 2014)

Extracurricular involvement while in school: President of the Statistical Sciences Association of Students (September 2014 – May 2015), co-president of the Economics

Students’ Association (September 2012 – May 2014)

Job Description

I have been a technical applications and business analyst for different technology groups at Citigroup, currently Equities Electronic Execution. Before this, I worked with Global Data Services and Prime Finance. My team and I provide the tools and capabilities to access markets, execute efficiently, and trade algorithmically and electronically. The technologies I use the most are MongoDB, Python, UNIX, Perl, R, Elasticsearch, VBA, SQL, ITRS Geneos, and Cloud.

Statistics and Data Science at Work

The focus of my role is on data availability, integrity, and fast transmission. Although this does not require an extensive knowledge of statistical practices, it relies on technology and algorithms to enable movement and preserve integrity. My background in statistics and mathematics has proven incredibly useful in picking up technologies and programming quite quickly—I script with ease and deal with complex systems daily.

Favorite Undergraduate Statistics Class

STA490–Statistical Consultation, Communication, and Collaboration: This class provided valuable exposure to the role of a statistician in experiment design and analysis. We collaborated with investigators from other departments to perform both elementary and sophisticated analysis. This meant access to a real-world data set, as well as a number of issues that come up in empirical research.

Moreover, the communication techniques we learned, and the opportunity to employ them through numerous presentations, improved our ability to digest complex issues quickly and communicate knowledge using different levels of complexity.

STA414–Statistical Methods for Machine Learning and Data Mining: Valuable course on the mathematical and statistical foundations of data mining and pattern recognition. Not only was this course incredibly challenging and stimulating, but also useful in understanding how to practice statistics in the modern world. We undertook several eye-opening projects that shed light on the foundations of some of the modern world’s greatest advancements.

Advice for Students

Do not neglect your extracurricular activities, and pick up as much computer science while you are still in school.

Try to get as much professional and research experience while in university to motivate your journey into the statistical sciences.

Take up classes and projects outside of the quantitative sciences to increase your creativity (vital in all aspects of life) and adaptability.

Elizabeth Miller

Background

I graduated with three degrees: Statistics (BS), Actuarial Science (BS), and Applied Mathematics (BS). I also interned with an agriculture biotechnology company in the R&D department, serving as a data scientist, in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Job Description

Versatile business intelligence professional who uses her strong communication skills and hands-on experience working with various data analysis projects to provide effective results for clients

Bilingual (English/Spanish) and comfortable working with people at all levels of a business, from technical teams to key stakeholders

Statistics and Data Science at Work

Depending on the nature of the project, I use statistics building models that serve as the business solution. I also provide education to the client regarding statistical analysis in an applied manner.

Favorite Undergraduate Statistics Class

Time Series was my favorite course, partially due to how engaging the professor was, but also to how much application I could see with it besides gaining theoretical knowledge.

Advice for Students

Ask questions always. Do not limit yourself when applying for internships or jobs, even though you may not have job experience or the desired education level. It takes hard work and persistence to get either an internship or a job, and that does not end once you get it, either. Also, immerse yourself in learning new technologies and language; you become more marketable in the field.

Eunice Yeh

Undergraduate School: The University of North Carolina at Chapel HillGraduation Year: 2015Position: Statistical Analyst/ProgrammerCompany: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthSector: Health/Medicine

Background

Bachelor of Science in Public Health from UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Job Description

Statistics and Data Science at Work

My job is to provide statistical analysis with SAS programming support for studies involved in the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. This includes all aspects of work, from prediction models during study development through monitoring; descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing during interim, primary, and secondary analyses; and inference during the final dissemination of results.

Favorite Undergraduate Statistics Class

Intro to Biostatistics (BIOS500H) was my absolute favorite within my undergraduate experience at UNC. On top of being the optimal transitional course from the general education courses during my first years to the core requirements for my biostatistics degree, it was also a unique honors-level course that implemented the flipped-classroom style of learning. My professor presented the course materials in a very organized manner that supported our understanding of each topic and its relation with one another and then challenged our understanding not only through practice problems by hand, but also by programming in SAS. We left the course with fundamental knowledge of all statistical concepts useful in public health research and were prepared to dive deeper into each concept through the subsequent biostatistics courses in the program.

Advice for Students

You will find that statistics can be relevant to any career field you seek. As long as you are capable of generating and interpreting statistics, you will be able to exceed in any field of interest.

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